People say, (like in here) that their very first LEGO set has a special meaning to them. That’s not quite the case with me. I received my first LEGO set at a very young age – under 3-years-old, I think. I did not start with DUPLO like most kids that young. My very first LEGO sets were from the LEGO Jack Stone theme: #1435 LEGO Jack Stone Super Glider and #4600 LEGO Jack Stone Police Cruiser. I don’t remember much about these first LEGO setsand all the pieces are now gone – probably forever. However I managed to salvage the figures. Of course I was heartbroken to learn how much my childhood figurines were so unwanted these days after reading this article…

Even before this though I was playing with LEGO; I lived the first two years of my life at my grandmother’s house, which is where my much older cousin kept his LEGO Exploriens sets. I played with them with my other similarly-aged cousin, once my aunt trusted us enough to handle them. In a fairly short time though I (we) had ruined my cousin’s favorite toy. He salvaged all he could and took them over to his house. That was the last we saw of those sets, until after some helpful hints from my aunt I found out what sets my cousin owned: #6938 LEGO Exploriens Scorpion Detector and #6958 LEGO Exploriens Android Base, both excellent sets. Also, I believe he (my much-older cousin) also owned at least one LEGO Aquasharks set, as we found a black octopus and the head of the Aquasharks leader, Thresh.

But even before all of this my mom had a LEGO set or two. She had owned sets from the “Building Set with Little People” theme, which uses the classic Homemaker figures. I have deduced that she had owned #258 LEGO Zoo with Baseboard and #212 LEGO Scooter. Where are they now, you ask? That’s a very sad, tragic tale that I think will be better left untold…

At that time I had a lot of other interests, and LEGO wasn’t top of the list. But around 2003 my mom got me a trio of LEGO sets that would pave my liking of cool LEGO robots: the Bohrok of the Bionicle theme. Specifically, I got #8563 LEGO Bionicle Tahnok, #8560 LEGO Bionicle Pahrak and #8565 LEGO Bionicle Kohrak. Their looks captivated me, and I specifically found the combiner models fascinating. And the whole idea of Krana was intriguing. These LEGO sets were the first to introduce me to LEGO Bionicle, and LEGO constraction figures in general. These LEGO sets no longer have a place in my heart, but through them Bionicle does remain special to me.

Around 2003 or 2004, I got a LEGO set that both Brickset and Bricklink says it wasn’t released until 2005: #5370 LEGO Creator Make & Create Bucket. Even more bizarrely, I seem to be missing most of the pieces from the 200-bonus, and I don’t even remember getting the bonus when I first got the set. Yet, some of the pieces from it I remember having! I have heard that people have a LEGO set they remember most from their childhood. (Like for Angus Mclane’s it being #375 LEGO Classic Castle, I heard.) This was my set. With it, I could make anything I wanted. After all, there were over 600 LEGO bricks in this set! I still have the bucket, and after a lengthy check, I’ve found I’m now missing 108 pieces. 🙁

It was also around this time that my cousins and I caught the LEGO Knight’s Kingdom II craze, and we got the buildable knights, based on our favorite colors. Personally, I chose the set #8792 LEGO Knight’s Kingdom Sir Jayko. This became one of my favorite childhood sets. I’m working on restoring it right now; all I need now is the shield and the shield’s light-blue handle. We also often stayed at the toy-store looking at the commercials detailing the story. Besides the sets, my cousin also got a complete collection of the Nestle Promotional figurines for Knight’s Kingdom, and I personally got the set #8778 LEGO Knight’s Kingdom Border Ambush, which – due to various circumstances – is now in pieces; some at my place and some at my cousin’s place. When I got back into the LEGO hobby, there was a lot of “legal” battles between us over who keeps the surviving minifigures – which resulted in me and the oldest cousin (who was my best friend since we were small) to almost being forbidden to see each other ever again. No, it’s not his fault…

I should also mention that I wasn’t always against Megabloks like mostLEGO fans are nowadays; When I was 6, for example, I was overjoyed that I got a Megabloks set. As with virtually every toy I got before my first decade, I lost it. Unlike my LEGO sets though, I have no regrets… 😈

Then, around 2006, my mom got me two Bionicle sets; the #8722 LEGO Bionicle Kazi and #8726 LEGO Bionicle Dalu. You see; I had not gotten a Bionicle set since the Bohroks, but I had been watching the movies. (I watched the 3rd one, then the 2nd one. I never watched the 1st one until I got into serious collecting.) I instantly recognized the two characters to have the same mask as Nuju and Nokama, two movie characters, respectively. My illogical 7-year-old brain comprehended that these are the Matoran form of said characters. But they restarted my interest in Bionicle nonetheless. I had oftentimes stared longingly at Toa Hordikas and Visoraks, as every other typical kid at that time. By the way my first thoughts about the 2nd Bionicle movie still amuses me; I had thought Toa Lhikan and Turaga Lhikan were two different characters; thinking that Turaga Lhikan – or at that time I had known him as “The old (Senile) Bionicle from the sewers” – had given Vakama the Vahi. I understood nothing about Makuta masquerading as Dume. These were all courtesy of my 7-year-old, English-unsavvy brain.

So anyways, I got re-hooked on Bionicle. I begged my teenage cousin to give me his (poorly built, slightly incomplete) #8570 LEGO Bionicle Gali Nuva. I got a vague idea about Voya Nui and the 2006 storyline. I got a fake Hakann and Zaktan, which (in addition to a 2007 fake Defilak) was enough to keep me away from knock-off LEGO sets forever. I played Bionicle Heroes (as well as various other LEGO games) on DS. My dad got me a #8727 LEGO Bionicle Toa Jaller, and best of all, my mom traded a little (OK, a ton) of HSBC points for my 8th birthday to get me #8719 LEGO Bionicle Zamor Spheres and #10204 LEGO Bionicle Vezon & Kardas! It was awesome. It was massive. It was… built wrongly. What do you expect? I was only 7. Nonetheless, it easily became my favorite LEGO set and looked super-rad on top of my desk.

Soon, I learned the beauty of MOC-ing. But because of this I also learned the ugly truth of Bionicle the hard way; cracky joints. Pretty soon the great and almighty Kardas Dragon crumbled; some pieces broken, some scattered, and some lost. It was emotionally super saddening. I began to believe that MOC-ing is something heretic…

But first, let’s enter 2008. It was the year I got#8913 LEGO Bionicle Toa Nuparu. Then later on I got a new favorite, the #8697 LEGO Bionicle Toa Ignika. Owning the Mask of Life – I had learned of its importance from the 2006 storylines – sent a tingle down my spine. I would also proceed to get #8952 LEGO Bionicle Mutran & Vican. And got a booklet which tells the Bionicle legend in fast forward. I had instantly taken a liking to Toa Takanuva, despite only having vague information. Later that year I got a leaflet promoting the Mistika. It was interesting, and I memorized the words that was on it. It went something like: “For the first time in a long time Mata Nui shall wake, the earth shall shake as he rises.” There were two more lines, but I forgot. Now I find it fairly similar to “The Rising” podcast.

In 2010 after a failed attempt to get a #7135 LEGO Bionicle Takanuva, I entered my Dark Ages… only to exit it at roughly March 2011. Well, technically, it’s kind of complicated, since Bionicle (and LEGO in general) was never really my main hobby. Throughout the years, I had done a lot of hobbies, like many boys do. Mine included (I’ve long since stopped doing most of these – just doing it for old time’s sake occasionally):

Collecting toy-cars

Hot Wheels

Comic books

Gundam

Various action figures

Video-games (mainly on a DS)

The Megaman series of video-games

The Pokemon series of video-games

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG (trading card game)

My catalyst to get back to LEGO came when I was 11 and I was at a low point of my life. My Hoarder-Disorder had been acting up, and my guilt and worries over many things (including the loss of my dear Bionicle Kardas) had pushed me to a near-depression. After re-evaluating my life, I decided I needed a new hobby. Like in the experience of many others, I didn’t look for it, it came to me… I had been doing some unpacking, since I was bored (my family moves often). I found a few LEGO bricks and my original Jack Stone figures. I started building a little bit and I gradually began to re-accept the hobby. Finally, reading a local magazine, XY Kids’, article about Ninjago, I became interested in the spinners and sets (ironically Ninjago spinners became something I didn’t really like, and something my father is completely against). Finally, me and my sister asked for some LEGO sets. I got #2258 LEGO Ninjago Ninja Ambush, and my sister got #7279 LEGO City Police Minifigure Collection. As people often say; “the rest is history…”

I got many LEGO sets since then; you can see them here. I got a LEGO Exo-Force set that got me interested in the theme. It had all the wonders of regular LEGO System sets and the familiar click-joints of Bionicle.

When one of my friends gave me a video-downloading software, I started collecting LEGO videos and other LEGO media. I also did a lot of digital-designing and became more active in the LEGO Message Boards. My dad bought me The Star Wars Character Encyclopedia in late 2011, and that’s where I started to be interested in LEGO books. I also collect LEGO gear that I find novel; like salt and pepper shakers. Another form of LEGO gear that interests me is magnets, but not just any magnets, but the special, LEGO-Store and LEGOLAND exclusive magnets with names of various cities/places.

After getting over the loss of Kardas, I salvaged the parts of my old Bionicle sets, and use them to create MOCs. I rarely display them though – I guess half because of shyness and lack of confidence, half because of the remains of the previous “MOC-ing is heretic” experience. Below are some of the LEGO MOCs I made. Not too shabby, eh? 🙄

And here is a picture of my LEGO-table. Yes, it is rather cluttered at the moment. As you may figure out, the giant bearded guy is also a MOC. Displaying it was a little uncommon for me. He came about one day when I was bored. I nicknamed him “Norm”. Besides Norm, there are 3 other MOCs… can you guess which ones?

Also, I believe that I am very lucky; I had a chance to visit LEGOLAND Malaysia. Here’s a picture to prove it. Yes, the boy in the picture is me. I’m not fat, just not thin. Close enough to the sigfig, don’t you think so? 😛

Well, I have discussed the past me and my interests. I’ll talk a bit about me currently. I’m a TFOL, turning 14 this year. My birthday’s on the 31st of July. I’m from Asia, Indonesia, specifically. I believe I’m one of the first Asian contributors around here. I’m an 8th grader and my scores are quite average. And now to my pleasure but perhaps everyone else’s disdain, I present to you my list much in the style of admin and gid617:

I’m not someone who is very “connected” to social-networking. I don’t have a Twitter account, my Facebook is probably locked by now, and I have no idea what a LinkedIn is.

I don’t find myself artistic in any way. I am a poor painter/drawer and a horrible musician.

I’m a lefty – perhaps this is why I’m so artistically poor?

I constantly claim that I don’t enjoy music. Actually I do, but not from my era. My favorite band is Queen.

As for art, I don’t understand or appreciate it. I don’t see the beauty of a man with his fist on his forehead.

Fikko, all of your articles are linked to your Contributors Page. And you can also mention in your next article that it is now up. I know form experience and from our stats that Contributors Pages do get plenty of visits. It is a great way for readers who like your articles to get in touch with you, ask questions, etc.

Nice page! Your LEGO history in your childhood is just like mine , except mine was very rare (well , now) Sonic the Hedgehog toys. I got rid of mine at around eleven , and want them back dearly. I lost a few back then and thus couldn’t get rid of them so I have them now :P.

I have only lost 1 LEGO piece , a pair of black legs! I opened a minifig pack in the truck and it was gone :(.

Hi Fikko! My real name’s Jon and I’m a TFOL. I’m a huge fan of LOTR and I love using SNOT techniques on my creations. I really don’t have a favorite brick but I do like hinges and the new element that looks like a brick. I’ve read the Lord of the Rings trilogy and am finishing it now. A dictionary by your side while you read it might come in handy! I just found Brickblogger pretty recently and have been posting comments like crazy! Nice to meet you!

Hey Fikko, I just watched the videos you posted in your latest article. I liked them all and I thought the wizard movie was extremely clever. I’ve done a couple stop-motion movies before but only with an iPod and only a few times so I’m really not that experienced. But My favorite movie was the one with the mini-builds. When looking for inspiration for MOCs I just look around at others’ creations and I usually become really inspired. I do my best work when I’m inspired. Is there a place where I can see your MOCs?

umm, Well, Meneldur, the problem is, I don’t MOC that much. In fact, I barely MOC. Most of my MOCs are done in LEGO Digital Designer. However, recently I challenged myself to create some robots out of some specific sets. I’m planning to write a post about it. Just stay tuned!

Fikko, I still do want to know where maybe I could see some of your MOCs if you post them on places, but my main question is: what is spamming exactly? Is it putting bad words and stuff like that in your comment or is it something else?

Spamming is a very broad definition, but usually it means posting comments or replies to a post that is incredibly unnecessary. For example, Me posting “Nyan” 50 times in a row would be considered a spam. It doesn’t necessarily had to be a bad word; In most forums, comments and posts containing bad words are usually moderated and rejected.

Thanks Fikko for clarifying that for me. Now I have another question for you: do you know why Lego discontinued Bionicle? Ever since I got really into Legos as a little kid, I found out about Bionicle and loved it. My biggest Bionicle set is the Lego Metru Nui set. I was so young, I didn’t even know how to build it and didn’t until about four years later. Over the years though, I began collecting like mad. Right now I have easily 4000 Bionicle parts. My collection only has two vehicles in it however and they’re my brother’s but I stuck them in there. But Bionicle was popular and I wonder why Lego stopped it. I didn’t know if you knew. Sounds like you must have a massive collection.

I know EXACTLY why. Personally, Bionicle was pretty much the only LEGO theme I actively play with before my Dark Ages. However, most of my sets are from 2006, with about 4 from 2002, 1 from 2007 and 2 from 2008. I do not have a massive collection; Just a handful of Toa, some Bohroks and a couple of Voya Nui Matoran. But my 2 largest sets are the aforementioned Vezon & Kardas, which technically gives me the pieces of Axonn+Brutaka+Vezon & Fenrakk, and Toa Ignika on his technic built Skyboard. So you can see why I have quite some pieces.

As to why Bionicle stopped… Well, first things first, how old are you? A TFOL, right? Were you there, at around 7 years old when Bionicle started at 2001? I think not. At that year, I was only 2. Say, we have a 6 year old who was introduced to Bionicle at 2001. Now flash forward 9 years later, to 2010, Bionicle’s final year. That same kid would be 16. He would either lose interest or become an AFOL. Now say you’re 6. In the year 2005. You see this strange series of color coded, hunched robots combating giant spiders. You have no idea what’s going on. (In fact, this is more or less my case. Fortunately, it doesn’t bother or deter me.) Would you like it? Maybe not. This is why at around 2008-ish, the sales were dropping, because the only fans who knew the story and truly buys devotedly is very limited, since most are late TFOLs/Early AFOLs, and perhaps a handful of the target market who have no idea what’s going on or trace back the story. If LEGO had wanted to boost the sales, they can simply re orientate it to become more mature, but LEGO is NEVER going to make a mature theme. As you can see, they fixed this problem with Hero Factory. Every year is self contained with an incredibly thin plot, ensuring people who doesn’t follow the previous years can still catch on.

Another problem is the fragile joints, which became especially evident from 2006 onwards. Technically speaking, all LEGO bricks need to be able to be stressed to about 0.01 mm or so. Since Ball & Socket are a completely different medium, they change the stress capability, but it seems like LEGO miscalculates the necessary capability. This is why the sockets of sets before 2010 are easily broken; Because they have to endure stress they aren’t meant to endure. That’s another reason sales were dropping. I myself at that time hates MOCing Bionicles since it can ruin them. Now see Hero Factory. LEGO fixed the problem. As far as I know, these joints are infinitely more durable. I know that you can argue they can simply do it to Bionicle, but I believe LEGO wants a clean slate, and, coupled with the first reason, they decided to discontinue it and start Hero Factory.

I did try it, and at a time, it’s the sets I most frequently play and MOC with. I’m really happy about the new joints, but dissapointed at the reuse of cracky glatorian heads. Also, hero factory here is so expensive. It’s far too unaffordable.

And personally, The reason I don’t like hero factory as much as bionicle is that it lacks a good story; however, this lack of story covers some problems, so I believe it increases sales.

Hakan, it is actually not that uncommon with today’s kids. In the past LEGO encouraged free-building a lot more. Even Star Wars sets had alternate builds. And there were many LEGO Ideas booklets published by LEGO. These days the only sets that come with alternate builds is Creator and some Technic. And of course the LEGO Master Builder Academy sets. Other than that, kids get the idea that LEGO is a kit that you put together and keep that way. Not all kids think that way, but many do. This is not the first time I have heard this. If the parents are also into LEGO and they are seasoned AFOLs themselves they will likely encourage their kids to think and create on their own. And also the kids themselves once they get online will see the amazing MOCs others create. But the point is that creating freely with LEGO is not as obvious as it used to be in the past. Sadly. 🙁

Btw, I managed to make some kind of dinosaur by combining the Bionicle pieces with a few I already owned. At first I tried to do a dragon, but attaching some kind of believable wings turned out too difficult. (Might attempt a rebuild later when I have more energy.)

I really never thought about it that way. As soon as Bionicle began to wind down, I was already interested in other themes and I can never seem to like Hero Factory stuff; though I do build with them, but I own not a single Hero Factory set. They all belong to my brother. And right now my Bionicle collection is shoved under another Lego bin and I just rummaged through it last week. I needed a piece for a medieval catapult I was building. I hadn’t gone through that bin in about two years! That’s a while for me. By the way, I am a TFOL to answer your question and you probably already guessed it. And you now officially beat my comments in length. If you want to see my longest comment, it’s on the LOTR post with the Black Gate and Corsairs’ ship, next to the Orthanc review.

One of the reasons I love to MOC with Bionicle and Hero Factory is that it takes very little MOCing skill to create a believable humanoid. You just click a few pieces together, and you have a hero. However, to create other great things, it is a bit tougher. Bionicle is known for its specialized one-use pieces, which makes it harder. When you see a hip piece, don’t just see it as a hip piece; for example, the Sky Guardian set uses them for arms. It does take some getting used to, yes, and you would be tempted like crazy to use “illegal” techniques, but you’ll get it.

Hi guys! You know that feeling when you have a lot of ideas but you have no idea whatsoever on what to prioritize in? Well, that’s sort of what I’m feeling right now. Here’s a list of post ideas I have:
-A post about the Webcomic “Irregular Webcomic!”
-A post about my robot MOCs
-A post about my Hong Kong In’s Place Haul
-Part 2 of Collecting LEGO comics
-A post about collecting Wallpapers and Screensavers
-A post about collecting LEGO Gear
-A post about how to make your own home-brewed LEGO RPG
-A post about LEGO digital designer
-A post about the official LEGO message boards
Now, as you can see, I have far too much ideas. From now till next week, I’ll hold a short contest: Vote for the top 3 that you want most, and the most voted will be my next post- except the Irregular Webcomic! one. That one is the next one for sure.

Can I vote too? If I can, I will vote for Part 2 of Collecting Webcomics, the one about LEGO message Boards, and How to Make Your Own Home-Brewed LEGO RPG, because I have no idea what you are talking about, but it sounds exciting. 🙄

Will you vote in that order? Also, it seemed that most doesn’t know about RPGs. RPG stands for Roleplaying games. It is a game where you play a role, hence the name. There are many forms of Roleplaying. Fantasy and Space, for example. In this game, You can create your own Character, choose his stats, and go on an adventure, usually involving slaying monsters and conversing with NPCs(Non-playable characters), and make decisions that can affect them later. Let’s take a Fantasy game for example. You might start as a wizard, learn new spells, obtain new equipments and slay monsters. One of the most famous RPG is Dungeons & Dragons. Personally, I’ve never officially played one, since these gaming kits are rare from where I come from. For more, definitive info, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game

Fikko, I don’t know what order. I actually like all of your ideas. You should see my desk; I have a bulleting board with almost a hundred little stickers with various ideas and topics I want to write about – some are my ideas, some are suggested by readers, or get prompted by a question. In the morning I just look at my list, pick one, and begin to write. I don’t put them in order because one day I may be more inspired by one topic then another. 😉

As far as RPG, okay, now I know what you are talking about! I just forgot what the abriviation stands for. I never played any roleplaying games, but I have a basic idea. One of my cousins are hugely into it. Thanks for clarifying that. 😀

Wolf…Apologies. I didn’t count your votes, since I think I closed it before you voted. However, It wouldn’t make a huge difference: Robot MOCs is still high, and so is RPG…Who am I kidding, it makes a big difference. It would have meant me having to do RPG first…I’ll stick to my original plans.

LEGO Digital Designer is an official software released by LEGO to design LEGO models well, digitally, hence the name.

Great ideas though I’m with Admin: I have no idea what home-brewed LEGO RPG is. Go for it! I’ll be voting for sure, Fikko. I’ll have to think of some good posts if I become a contributor which I am considering.

Your 49th thing about you makes me feel like you can read my mind. I started reading LOTR a little more than a year ago, and sometimes a would stop for months because the descriptions of things took up pages, which is sometimes very overbearing. I also don’t listen to today’s music. I pretty much just listen to LedZeppelin.

Hmm, having people vote on what posts they want you to write is a good idea! I might want to try that sometime! My votes are:

-A post about collecting LEGO Gear
-A post about how to make your own home-brewed LEGO RPG
-A post about my robot MOCs

So I guess I voted the same as Legoman640. I’m not really sure what a LEGO RPG would be like, I mean I know what RPGs are, I’m just not really sure what that would be like. Anyways, these are in order of what I want most and want least.

Alright, now let’s see the current scores. These are counted in my own personal way:
How to home-brew your own LEGO RPG: 6 points
Collecting LEGO Gear: 5 points
Collecting LEGO comics: 4 points
My Robot MOCs: 4 points
Tour of the official LEGO message boards: 1 point
LEGO Digital Designer: 1 point
My Hong Kong LEGO haul: 0 point
Collecting Wallpapers & Screensavers: 0 point
Well personally, I didn’t expect LEGO Gear to hit so high. And I was hoping RPG wasn’t that high, since it will make a lenghty post… Bear in mind that I would still get the post about Irregular Webcomic! Posted first, since I’ve asked David Morgan-Mar and I don’t want to keep him waiting…

Currently, I’ve just finished writing the post about Comics and doing the Irregular Webcomic!. Well, I better get started on the RPG…

Ah, good question. I actually wanted to set it to GMT, but that means I should wake up at like, 6.50, which I kinda have to do, so yes, I’ll close it then, but the results would only be told afterwards

Ah, apologies. I closed it late. So here’s the FINAL tally:
How to home-brew your own LEGO RPG: 7 points
Collecting LEGO Gear: 7 points
Collecting LEGO comics: 4 points
My Robot MOCs: 7 points
Tour of the official LEGO message boards: 1 point
LEGO Digital Designer: 1 point
My Hong Kong LEGO haul: 0 point
Collecting Wallpapers & Screensavers: 0 point
Thank you all for voting. Seeing that there is a threeway tie, I will write My Robot MOC first, then LEGO Gear, then RPG. Sorry, but RPG is just going to take a while to write…

I think admin has access to my e-mail information through my posts. I have to find my old Donald Duck comics for their ads, and then I could e-mail you a draft, as an appendix or something. If it’d be interesting.

Hakan, you can reach Fikko directly at the top of his page. Where it says “email Fikko”. Just click on the link. Or, if you want me to send him your email address that works too, but the first method is easier. 😉

Hi guys. I know some of you are looking for codes for the chi vault at the Official Chima microsite, since some of us (me included) really wants those digital rewards, and finding floating Chi is too bothersome. Here’s some good news for iOS users, that I just realised; a few of the achievements in the mobile Speedorz game yield you points! I even got one worth 1200 points! So now I have all of them, which I’ll gladly write an article about, if only doing so wouldn’t make me get into trouble with LEGO…

Hm… that’s a really interesting idea. I’m not sure how you would get into trouble as LEGO made the games like that, so, it should be okay. Besides, it is fun to be a bit controversial at times. We can always say, “Opps, sorry…”, but don’t quote me on that. 🙄

That’s true. But people like shortcuts… in almost everything. Although, yeah, sometimes it isn’t legal. Like those guys who always try to cut the corner and avoid the lights at the corner gas-stations. The cop is almost always waiting for them at the other side. Quite fun to watch. 😈

Yes! I finally managed to set up my own channel, at http://www.youtube.com/user/LEGOVideoDepot . As with my tradition of being purist, It will mostly contain official videos. It’s very new and bare at the moment; I can’t find/make a good channel art yet. Please pay a visit there and subscribe! First things first, I’ll be choking it full of Designer videos from the last four years or so, which I’m pretty sure won’t get me into trouble…Right?

Just subscribed. Yeah, I think designer videos should be fine. I’m not sure about the name though. I know LEGO doesn’t like their name being used (thus theBrickBlogger and not LEGOBlogger or BrickLink and not LEGOLink or LEGO MarketPlace) by websites. I’m not sure about YouTube Channels though. 😕

Fikko, I have also seen websites with LEGO in the name, only to be shut down after some time. In regards to YouTube, I think it is best to be on the safe side as if your account gets shuts down due to the name you will loose all your hard work. 🙁

I get the gist of the story, but not in detail. Personally, I prefer The Hobbit, which I’ve read and enjoyed. I only have one The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings set, the Barrel escape, and it’s really good. My dad got it whilst he was at New Zealand, where it’s really booming. The thing is, in here, the sets are always late and so expensive; Attack on Weathertop costs about $150 if I’m not mistaken.

The Hobbit is good….though personally I find the Lord of the Rings more well-written though you have to keep in mind that The Hobbit was written for a different audience than The Lord of the Rings was. I have all the LEGO (note: I just read the latest post) Lord of the Rings sets from the first-wave. I’m a huge fan and have studied a lot of the history of Middle-earth. Like I can ramble off phrases like this: Aragorn is the son of Arathorn II son of Arador. His mother was Gilraen. Gilraen took Aragorn to Imladris (Rivendell) after Arathorn was slain and Aragorn was named Estel (hope) by Elrond Half-elven, son of Earendil, and brother of Elros. As you can see, I’m a big fan.

Fikko, I tried downloading the video, but when I play it, it is just blank. I will try a few more times. And yes, I did get your email. I was at the beach all day yesterday. That’s why I didn’t respond. 😉

Woahhhh, This is shocking…. your likes/dislikes are almost identical to mine 0.0……. Ur Bionicle MOCs looks epic btw!! What are your opinions on “Hero Factory”? I just dont like how they dont really bind with my current MOCs all that well, and my limb and hand parts are all breaking =P

I’m very pleased on the new, robust joints that I find much more versatile than Bionicle. But as I mentioned before, Bionicle was and still is my favorite theme. The thick story is just so engaging. Hero Factory lacks that, which sort of disappoints me, but the standalone story arcs are what makes Hero Factory commercially more stable than Bionicle.

You know, unfortunately, Edison was not that great a person. His heroic elements are taught in schools, but not any of the bad things he did.
For example, he did not invent the phonograph, he just improved upon it and arrived at the patent office a little bit earlier than his rivals. I’m sorry if I uprooted your role-model, but read his Wikipedia entry, and perhaps choose a different person, such as Alexander Graham Bell?

After reading everything you wrote about yourself, we really seem alike- I love Bionicle, Megaman, Pokemon (sorta), Rick Riordan books… just one question: what’s your opinion of Transformers? 🙂 And if you like transformers, have you ever tried to make them out of LEGO bricks?

P.S. I once tried to write a petition to Barack Obama to bring back Bionicle… I didn’t get very far. 🙁

Yeah, I remember my parents laughing at it, but they were fine with me sending it because they were curious what would happen with it. They actually signed it! I didn’t get any reply, of course, but I still keep a copy in my room.

Also, admin, I found that anyone can watch the “Invasion From Below” episode from Hero Factory through the new web game on the Hero Factory website. I’d by happy to review the game on the Brickblogger, as it also shows the next wave of Hero Factory sets.

LOL! That’s even funnier! I think you should write about your experience and the letter. Of course if you want to. I think it would make a great article. As far as Hero Factory, go ahead, it’s yours. 😉

Hey, Alex. Right, sorry I took two months to respond; until recently, my home internet have been very irregular, so I couldn’t respond until now. Yes, I do enjoy Transformers, though really I don’t immerse in the mythology like I did for Megaman or Pokemon; mostly, I just enjoyed the shallow Michael Bay movies and a few of the first episodes of Transformers: Energon. I’ve never tried to recreate them in LEGO, though I always believe they could work fabulously as 3 in 1 or 2 in 1 sets, like Creator sets or TLM sets. Movie Soundwave or ROTF Movie Megatron would be nice as 3 in 1…